I still get homesick. Even though my home is here in London and I love it, sometimes I just yearn for Lancashire, for its good ordinariness, its steadier pace, its not trying too hard, nor having to. I’d just like to hear northern voices with flat vowels at the supermarket checkout instead of the chewing gum voices of south London.

Odd though, the things I miss. Wigan had a beautiful Victorian market hall which was the bustling hub of the town and which was demolished in the 1980s to make way for a bleak, airless red brick, high walled shopping centre and although a market was incorporated into the scheme, the town seemed to lose its purpose. My grandmother would take me to the market. It was a place to socialise and gossip: the interminable shifting of weight from one leg to the right while she laughed and sympathised and whispered the latest scandal. She was a glamorous woman and never went out without heels and lipstick and a sharp skirt suit and hat and gloves.

Like this:

Related

4 responses to “Nostalgia Trip”

We have farmer’s market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I love to stroll about and people watch and relish the community feel. Though I grew up in a big city atmosphere I’m a small town gal and would probably like the village life found in the English novels I read. I scoop up English books by authors like Miss Read and D.E. Stevenson. Familiar with them?
Blue Skies,
CricketMuse

We have a farmers’ market too and jolly nice it is but it’s a far cry from the market I knew in Wigan as a child: that market was the real pulsing centre of the town with all the underbelly that goes with it. I think I’d probably like Miss Read’s English village life too! Many thanks for your comments – they’re always a treat! x

Here are some flat vowels for you Claire – how we love the north! But I wouldn’t live there anymore, it’s all become rather a hostile place – especially round Leigh. Nevertheless I do share your nostalgia for those market halls. The one in Bolton is more familiar to me. You’ve captured the waking up of market day beautifully. Jxx